Help Desk
This is a Help Page: This is a page centered around general advice for new users, or those who want to know a few things about editing. So before you post a simple question like "How do I edit" on my wall, please read this. This contains a list of frequently asked questions freshly answered by me. Along with some advice for advanced editors. My message wall is mainly for advanced questions or general discussion. So please read this if you need simple help (how to edit, how to add categories etc.) If there's an important question you think I should answer and add here, please let me know Hope this list helps! General help ★''' Problems '''★ Advanced issues ★''' Chat '''General Editing Question: How do I edit a page? :Answer: At the top of pages, you will see edit, clicking this will take you to the editor, where you can edit the page. You could also just search your page in the url and add ?action=edit. If you see the edit space appear as view source this means that the page has been protected by an administrator for a specific reason. If you wish to edit the page, you would have to ask an administrator to remove the protection. Question: How do I disable Visual editor? :Answer: Go to , and visit the tab "Editing". From there you will see the section "Editing experience". Uncheck "Enable visual editor". Question: How do I add/remove categories? :Answer: At the bottom of articles you should see a category bar. Click "Add category" and insert which ones you'd like. To remove a category, you'd have to edit the page manually and remove them as you'll see to your lower right. Click the small trash can icon to delete them. Question: How do I add/remove categories with Visual editor disabled? :Answer: Go to , and visit the tab "Editing". From there you will see the section "Starting an edit". Check "Disable Category module". Categories will now be visible in source editor, where you can add/remove them in a "link style". Question: How do I create a template? :Answer: To create a template you need to create a new page with the title beginning in "Template" namespace. For example, Template:Infobox. From there you can create a template and use it on your wiki. Question: How do I add a template to a page? :Answer: To add your template to a page you need to post it on said page with the curly brackets outside it. For example, or simply . Question: How do I add a signature? :Answer: When editing in source mode, you'll see a small square at the top bar which will read "Your signature with timestamp" when hovered over. Once clicked it will generate your signature to the page. You can also do it manually by typing the four tildes. (~~~~) ::Please keep in mind not to use a signature from one wiki across Wikia globally. As it puts a lot of strain on the server and isn't allowed. Example of this would include posting w:c:template:username_sig on multiple wiki's. Question: How do I create a custom signature? :Answer: There are two options for this. You could create it as a template and post it on a page. Example, . The advanced option for this would be to create it in a space to use all across wikia, which will also switch the Signature button to your custom one by default. Steps for this follow below: # Create your signature in # Afterwards, add to # The final step is to go to , and visit the tab "My info". From there you will see the section "Signature", add into the Custom Signature bar. Finally check "I want to use wikitext in my signature". ::You're all done now! Your custom signature will now be generated whenever you post the four tildes (~~~~) anywhere! :::If you edit multiple wikis, you'll have to repeat steps 1-2 for each one. Blocking Question: How do I prevent certain users from editing? :Answer: This action can only be performed by on your wiki. If you are an administrator, you can block a certain user from editing by using . Another location is to go to the users' contributions and select "block". Then you will have to set the expiry time of the block, and the block reason. :From the dropdown menu you can select a time of the block, and the block reason from the next menu. After you're set, and confirm yourself that you want to block the user, select "block this user" at your lower-left. Question: What are the appropriate time settings when blocking a user? :Answer: It depends on what the user is/was doing. Also how disruptive their editing really was. Furthermore, inspect if they've performed the same editing on other wiki's. From there you could decide the appropriate time limit for the block. Question: The block reason I'm looking for isn't in the dropdown menu. Is there any way to add custom block reasons? :Answer: Yes. There is. At the top of the dropdown menu you'll see "Other". Once you've set it you'll be able to enter your own block reason from the bar below. You can also set custom block reasons by editing MediaWiki:Ipbreason-dropdown on your wiki. Question: How do I block a user for an infinite amount of time? :Answer: You can perform this by entering infinite (no caps) in the expiry time bar. Preferably you could use "indefinite" as an option as well. Question: Is it possible to set "infinite" as a default expiry time? :Answer: Yes. You can do this by adding infinite to MediaWiki:Ipboptions on your wiki. Question: Could you give me some advice on blocking? :Answer: Sure. For starters, if a user's edits are not helping your wiki, it would be best to calmly explain to the user why their edits aren't helpful. If the user continues after your warning(s) you could sentence a one-day block on the user. This will serve as a more advanced warning. If the user continues with the same editing even after the block--then you could start going higher. Appropriate examples would be: 3 days to 1 week. :If the user is disruptive from the start, and or breaking rules intentionally, and their only purpose on the wiki in addition is to proceed in a harmful matter. It's recommended to rule out long blocks (i.e 2 weeks to infinite) :If a user's name is inappropriate itself, you could just go with an infinite block. It's best to uncheck "Prevent account creation". Because only the "username" is prohibited, and not the user. :For any users who post advertisements across your wiki (spam) or ruin pages purposely (vandalism) it's perfectly fine to give lengthy blocks. :Take some further advice here, and keep in mind to never block IP addresses for an infinite amount of time. IP addresses can change from person to person in as little as two weeks, and risks a potentially good editor being prevented from editing due to the autoblock. :The appropriate time setting for IP blocks should be 2 weeks at first. If excessive even after the 2 week block, you can set block ranges from 1-3 months. 3 months should be the highest for any IP address. ::This was some advice. Hope it helped! Problematic issues Spam/Vandalism Question: How do I take action against a vandal? :Answer: The best you could do would be to undo any edits they've made, and block the user from further editing. If you do not have admin rights on the wiki, then report it to a user who does. However, if it's wide-range vandalism (from wiki to wiki), report it to VSTF (link) ::There is a special tool you could use to quickly undo vandal edits, which is known as AjaxUndo. Add the following code to your global js: ::importScriptPage( 'AjaxUndo/code.js', 'dev' ); :::AjaxUndo will now be installed, and ready for use! Question: How do I identify spam? :Answer: Spam can consist of social or promotional advertisement. It's generally just ad floods that try to draw attention away from your wiki. Users who are posting spam on your wiki need immediate blockage from an administrator. If none are active you can contact VSTF (link) Question: A user has an offensive username, what should I do? :Answer: If you are an administrator on your wiki, you can block the user for an infinite amount of time. But as stated, if the username is offensive, it's best to get it globally disabled via . Question: Someone is impersonating another user, what should I do? :Answer: Report it via , and Wikia will take action against the issue. Question: A certain user is violating the Terms of Use, what should I do? :Answer: Report it via , and Wikia will take action against the issue. 'Advanced' Question: How do you add an interlanguage wiki link? :Answer: You can add an interlanguage wiki link to an article by using its language code. For example, pt-br:Darwin_Watterson will create an interwiki at the bottom of the article linking to the Darwin Watterson page on the brazilian portuguese TAWoG Wiki. :Interwiki's don't come out of nowhere though. You'd have to request a connection for interlanguage wiki's using this. A Community Central administrator will then qualify if your links are eligible and connect them for use. Question: How do I adopt a wiki? :Answer: You can adopt a wiki if all administrators have been inactive for at least 60 days. You can fill one out here. But please, follow the guidelines as they state: * You must not have adopted another wiki in the last month * You are not blocked on another Wikia project * etc. ::If you meet the qualifications, a Wikia staff agent will reply to your adoption and grant you bureaucrat/administrator rights in as little as a week. Question: How do I create a bot? :Answer: You'd have to create it using a special program called AutoWikiBrowser. You can download it here. Question: How do I use my bot on my Wiki? :Answer: You'd have to contact a member of Wikia using to flag the bot, and include a link to the discussion where your community approves of the bot being flagged. Keep in mind that the bot account will not be global, it will be a wiki specific-bot. Question: What do I do if my bot is malfunctioning? :Answer: Block it for an indefinite amount of time till you can resolve the issue with the bot. Question: Why am I seeing a block message when I try to edit? :Answer: Chances are you're just caught in a global-range IP block. Your block message follows: Your user name or IP address has been blocked. The block was made by DeviantSerpent. *Reason given: Spam *Start of block: August 3, 2013 *Expiry of block: infinity *Intended blockee: *Block ID: #00000 *Current IP address: 1.00.1.0 ::If you are seeing a message like this, please contact the administrator who blocked the IP which you will see above. And include the Block ID, or they likely won't be able to help you. Question: What is Rollback? :Answer: Rollback is basically an advanced "undo" switch. It reverts all edits from the last author of the page back to the previous one. ::It's recommended that the rollback feature should only be used for cleaning vandalism. Question: What is Revision delete? :Answer: Revision delete (aka RevDelete) is an administrative feature that allows individual entries in a page history or log to be removed from public view. It is used for "Selective deletion". This feature however, doesn't apply to general admin rights. Since it can potentially be abused. An alternate way around this is to delete a page and restore everything but the bad revisions. However, if you'd like something revisiondeleted, you can do so by requesting it via . Question: What is CheckUser? :Answer: CheckUser is an extension that allows for the checking of IP addresses used by a given username, and which usernames are used by a given IP. In the vast majority of cases, CheckUser rights are only given to Wikia Staff and the Volunteer Spam Task Force (VSTF), but any admin of any wiki can request a check from staff when necessary. :The reason CheckUser usually isn't given to local admins is because it risks potential abuse. It gives them the ability to look up personal information about other users. Specifically, IP addresses. ::If your wiki however, has had a long history of vandalism. You can request CheckUser rights via . Question: Where can I find a complete list of Help pages? :Answer: this link provided should direct you there. Question: How do I take action against an abusive administrator? :Answer: First thing's first. Explain to the admin in a calm matter what they are doing wrong. Tell them about their behaviour and that what they're doing is abusive. If they continue with the same abusive attitude. It'd be best to revoke their administrative privileges till it's resolved. :If you are not a bureaucrat on your wiki, then it'd be best to contact someone who is. If there are no active bureaucrats on your wiki, or any other active administrators (excluding the abusive one). Then you should explain the issue via in a private matter. 'Chat' General Question: What is Special:Chat? :Answer: Special:Chat is a Wikia feature that allows allows instantaneous communication between users on a wiki. Special:Chat isn't included by default. You'd have to visit on your wiki to enable it. Question: What can we do in chat? :Answer: Well...chat, hence the name of the feature. Chat is usually just random for the most of it. But there are times where we can have a straight conversation forwarding to a single subject in specific. We also discuss wiki related issues often. Essentially anything we want really. As long as you're not making anyone else incommodious. Question: How do I message a certain user privately? :Answer: You can do this by clicking their username on the sidebar, and select "Private Message". You can also open Group PM for private discussion between certain users by checking "Enable multi PM" via Options in chat. ::If there is someone violating our chat guidelines, please alert one of the active moderators. Question: How can I tell if a moderator is active or not? :Answer: When a moderator (or any user) is away, they will have "on a break" displayed under their username on the sidebar. This doesn't always mean they're actually away though. You are automatically set to "away" when you go inactive for 5 minutes. The moderator may possibly still be watching chat. Question: Some users set themselves to "on a break" repeatedly, how do they do that? :Answer: It's a chat-hack. It can be installed manually for use all across Wikia by entering the following into your global.js: :/* Monchomans chat hacks */ :importScriptPage('User:Monchoman45/ChatHacks.js', 'c'); ::You could also open "Options" in the upper-right of our chat and check "Enable chathacks". Question: How should I deal with a problematic user when no moderators are in chat? :Answer: Report it to a moderator on their Message Wall. They'll take care of it. Question: How do I become a chatmoderator? :Answer: Chatmoderators got their position resulting from good faith in the chat, and the wiki itself. Users must know their own rules, and be quite expereinced to become a chatmoderator. It isn't as easy as you may think. Chatmoderators must be as active on chat as well, or they likely risk losing their position. Question: Is being a chatmoderator fun? :Answer: It's just about the same as being a regular user. Chatmoderators are just users who have two extra buttons in chat, used for disciplining those who violate our chat guidelines. It doesn't really make you feel any different. Especially when there aren't any trolls around. Question: What are patrollers and administrators duties in chat? :Answer: Both patrollers and administrators have the same duty when on chat. They moderate. Patrollers and administrators have a lot more extra features than chatmoderators, but those features are for use outside of the chat. Question: Can I forward my questions to a moderator? are they friendly? :Answer: All our chatmoderators and administrators here are very friendly. And recently a lot the new users here were trolls. So we'd be very satisfied to once again meet another good user, who could possibly become one of our regulars here. If you have any questions concerning the wiki or the chat, feel pleased to speak up. Question: Is there anything we can't do in chat? :Answer: Yes. Our chat guidelines explictly state everything that is and isn't allowed. It is recommended that all new users read through our chat guidelines before entering or while in chat to get familiar with our rules. Question: Can you give me some advice on how to prevent getting banned from chat? :Answer: The most common reason users get banned from chat results from a purposeful cause, and not accidental. It's very simple on how to avoid getting banned. Here are some steps: * Review our Chat guidelines regularly * Be civil with other users at all times * Bring along nice conversation to spice up the chat * Be faithful: if another user is breaking rules on chat, notify a moderator by posting their username in chat. This will send a sound to them known as a "ping", in which the moderator will hear and get to business. ::Please note that not all of our moderators use ping phrases. But notifying them is still handy. Question: What do I do if I get banned? :Answer: Wait out your ban. There's nothing more to it than that. However, if you believe that you were wrongfully banned. Contact a moderator on their message wall to discuss it further. ::Do not create another account or use one of your alternative accounts to get around your ban. Most users do this shortly after they get banned. If you are caught doing this, your original account will get its ban length extended, and your alternative accounts will be infinitely blocked. Question: Would you care to share some of your experience as a chatmoderator? :Answer: I haven't been a chatmoderator for very long. Maybe for about 5 months or so (if you include my former position) but I do have a lot of experience when it comes to moderating. I was promoted to chatmoderator on another wiki just a day before I was promoted here. So it was like some kind of big push. I went from being an ordinary user to a double-chatmoderator. Even up to now I'm still doing the same two-chat routine. So it's pretty much a handful. But it's nothing I can't handle. I really enjoy it to be honest. :One thing you need to know about moderating is the skill. Be as active as possible. Use proper warnings and kicks instead of ruling out a quick ban because you disagree or are frustrated. And lastly, if another moderator has something under control, leave it as that. I learned that jumping in only causes disruption. There are some exceptions to this though. For example, someone includes you in the conversation and or asks you specifically about something. Or if you just have something to add to the conversation taking place. :Another technique I like to use is pretending to be away. Purposefully setting myself to "on a break" so trolls will think the mods are away, then they'd get caught right in their trap. :All in all, I take moderating seriously. I am a funny, and kind sort of person. But when someone breaks the rules intentionally it means it's time to take action. ::This was some advice, and I am very satisfied that I got to share it here. Question: How long do bans usually last? :Answer: Ban's and blocks both range from as little as 2 hours to infinite. It depends on your behaviour may a ban length be so long. As we know though, each moderator deals different consequences when it comes to banning. There are some of us who may not think so bad about your behaviour and rule out a short ban, then there are some of us who might believe your behaviour is unacceptable and possibly go to a high ranged ban. :When it comes to me. I would normally only go for infinite bans if it's the following: *Spam *Ban evasion *Personal attacks (ranges) :For those who spam (post advertisements to social and or promotional websites) in the chat deserve an infinite ban. Furthermore they deserve a global block as well since spam is in violation of Wikia's Terms of Use regardless of how little it is. :Ban evasion means "sockpuppeting", those who create alternative accounts to avoid previous bans deserve to have all alt's infinitely banned and blocked. And their original account have its ban extended. :Personal attacks really depend. If it is a wide-series of attacks an, additionally with multiple users an infinite ban on each user would be best. This is also known as a "chat invasion" or "chatbombing". If it's a single-person attack resulting from main or private messaging. A short ban (1 week) would be best just to discipline them that their behaviour is wrong and unaccpetable. If they repeat another offense after the ban, an infinite ban would be justified. ::These are just my personal skills and ways of handling it. But of course, like I said. Each moderator is expected to discipline differently. Category:Site administration